Help your child avoid health issues and grow into a happy adult by being a supportive parent

By David Clarke, MD | Contributor

As parents, we want our children to succeed, and part of that is noticing ways they can improve their habits and outcomes. However, particularly for adolescents, parental advice can result in much more pressure than is recognized. In some cases, this can even lead to unexplained pain or illness in their children that can continue well into their adult years. 

That this is possible can come as a surprise. Most people assume that pain and illness are the result only of injury or disease. However, one in five adults suffers from chronic pain or illness that is either “medically unexplained” or does not respond as expected to treatment. These patients have neuroplastic symptoms (NS) — brain-generated conditions linked to past or present stress, trauma, emotions or other life challenges. 

The Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ending the chronic pain epidemic by promoting awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of neuroplastic pain and illness. As president of ATNS, I would like to explain more about these health issues and share how parents can help their kids avoid them by being more supportive and less critical.

Neuroplastic symptoms manifest in many conditions including chronic pain, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and dozens more illnesses. Stress is also the most common cause of recurring abdominal pain in school-aged children and teens. This is also known as functional abdominal pain. Diagnostic testing does not reveal any organ disease or structural abnormality. Clues that abdominal pain is stress-related include pain that moves from place to place, or is relatively brief (ranging from seconds to a few minutes), or is relieved after a bowel movement, or is triggered by a light touch over the abdomen.

Migraine headaches are also among neuroplastic symptoms that can be triggered by stress. If your child or teen has migraines, it is important to look for and address sources of stress in their life.

What might these stresses be? Many children, especially teens, face constant confrontation with their shortcomings when outside of the home.

They can hear this from peers, teachers, coaches, and other instructors (as in the arts).  This is exacerbated if there are problems at home such as divorce, abuse of a child or parent, or problems with alcohol or drugs. Parents might not be aware of the magnitude of this pressure and often unknowingly contribute to it. For instance, when they give well-intentioned advice, it is inevitably accompanied by a message that the child is not doing well enough. Children feel this stress, and it can manifest physically as described above. 

How does stress cause real pain or illness? We now know that stress or trauma, particularly from adverse childhood experiences (ACES), can cause changes in nerve pathways in the brain.

ACEs can be any events that you would never want your child to go through. The brain is then capable of causing a wide range of neuroplastic symptoms anywhere in the body.

The majority of patients suffering from neuroplastic symptoms went through adverse childhood experiences. Many adults end up with stressful personality traits as a direct result of their childhood experiences that can trigger these conditions. These experiences don’t have to be physical or sexual abuse. The words and emotions we use can be just as harmful, or as healing, when it comes to our children.

We can’t go back and change somebody’s ACEs, but we can intervene in a successful way. When treating adults suffering from neuroplastic symptoms, we begin by helping them shift their attention from the symptoms in their body to the brain where they are generated. Then they can look for sources of stress, trauma, repressed emotions or other challenges and work to bring them into cognitive awareness.

Often adults will downplay the severity of their childhood experiences. When faced with this, I ask my patients to imagine themselves as a butterfly on the wall of their childhood home, then imagine a child they care about trying to cope with that environment, and examine how they feel. This thought experiment gives people a much different perspective, helps them connect with the reality of what was going on, and leads to additional productive discussion that can help bring their repressed emotions to awareness.

Recent scientific clinical trials show remarkable results in treating neuroplastic conditions using this approach which is called Pain Relief Psychology. When this is used, symptoms improve, sometimes dramatically.

Given that prevention is the best medicine, I would like parents to be aware of these connections and consider ways they can reduce stress in their children’s lives. For instance, a shift from noticing when a teen has fallen short (they are usually well aware) toward noticing when they have done well will engender self-motivation, as well as greater confidence to say “no” to engaging in risky behavior. This is something I’ve learned not only from my patients, but also from raising my own two children, who are remarkable adults and use the same approach to raise their children..

About the Author: Dr. David Clarke is the President of the Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to ending the chronic pain epidemic. Dr. Clarke holds an MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and is Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. His organization’s mission is to advance the awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of stress-related, brain-generated medical conditions. Learn more at symptomatic.me.

Editor’s Note: This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and does not constitute medical or other professional advice.